Khan was a nervous wreck.
The Admiral's ship had warped right before their eyes leaving no trace as to where they were going, but Earth was their only logical outcome.
"We are following them back to Earth. We're finished here." He barked, trying to read any possible navigation frequencies that the other ship might have left behind.
"You think the Admiral is not going to have perimeters up?" Kirk said, "There will be a whole fleet on guard."
"Kirk is right, Captain." Spock agreed, "The Admiral will have back up ready to attack if you try and intervene."
"So you're suggesting we sit here and do nothing?" Khan growled.
"Not nothing, but you can't afford to react quickly without thinking!" Kirk told him, "I know you are worried about her, we all are, but if we do anything without knowing more details, consequences will come down on her."
Khan took deep breaths and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, mind racing. He sprung back into action.
"Keats; send a private message to the General," He began his orders, "I want all Earth's perimeters monitored; I want to know every single vessel in and out of the system, and get onto the Starship dock and find the ship logs. If we are going to get to Nyota, we need to know exactly where she is going to be."
xxxx
Nyota awoke in a shuttle. Someone had moved her from the brig on the Admiral's ship. Her mind felt hazy from the sedative as she sat up. A security guard watched her carefully, and a feeling of sickness washed over her. She let her head hang, covering her eyes and concentrated on her breathing.
"Shuttle crew prepare for landing." A voice announced, and the security officer moved to buckle her in, she let him, she feared she would throw up if she moved.
Nyota immediately knew where she was; San Francisco, Intelligence Base. She was taken to the medical room she had been awoken in and checked over by a female doctor, who offered her a sympathetic smile, and was the first person to treat her with kindness since she was taken from Khan and her friends on the Entrada.
Apart from feeling groggy, Uhura checked out fine, and the baby was still in perfect health despite the days ordeal. Her fluid levels were low, so the doctor had attached her to a small drip and let her rest for a while. Unfortunately, it was not long until the Admiral reappeared with a few security guards.
Nyota scowled at him as he conversed with the doctor. She was too tired to make out their mutterings, only picking out the words, 'blood pressure' and 'thirty-one weeks'. The Admiral approached her.
"We are taking you back to the apartment you shared with Khan where you can rest until tomorrow." He told her. "The doctor is going to give you another mild sedative, okay?" He asked, but it was not a question, the doctor had already jabbed her with an injector before she could protest.
She knew they were trying to keep her as docile as possible. They were scared that she would lash out or cause a scene if they didn't. People would definitely talk if they saw a pregnant woman being dragged about the place kicking and screaming. Nyota concentrated, she needed to stay awake, when she got back to the apartment she might be able to use their comm to get to Khan.
A guard placed her on her bed and left, sealing the door behind him. Nyota forced herself up off the mattress and carefully found her way through the darkness of the room. It was the middle of the night on Earth, and not helping her stay awake. She found their computer, the light from the screen dazzled her, momentarily jolting her awake.
Khan had used this computer several times when they lived here together, and she had seen him change things, hack the system, encrypt something here and there. This system had his security on it, so if she could find a signal for the Entrada, she may be able to contact them undetected.
"Keats?" She whispered, clearing her throat and forcing her eyes open. A few minutes work, that in her drug-addled mind felt like a few hours, and she had found the transmission she needed.
"Uhura!?" She responded quickly, the sound of relief in her voice made her smile.
"Put me on screen." She said as she rubbed her eyes and straightened herself out.
"My darling!" Khan exclaimed. Nyota smiled woozily at him, feeling emotional to see him again. "What's happened? Where are you? Are you alright?"
"I…" Nyota took a breath, battling the sedative. "I'm in our apartment…"
"Uhura, you don't look good." McCoy was peering at her with concern.
"What have they done to you?" Khan demanded.
"They drugged me…" She replied, blinking heavily. "Sedative… The Admiral…" Nyota wanted desperately to tell them what was happening, what that man said he was going to do, but she was feeling more and more detached from herself by the second.
"Nyota, listen to me." McCoy spoke to her again, his voice was stern but clear as he watched her wobbling frame on the Entrada's view screen. "Whatever they have given you, you have to stop fighting it. It's not good for you or your daughter. Go and lie down before you collapse. That's an order."
"No..! No… listen…" She tried to protest, struggling to keep herself upright.
"Do as he orders, my love." Khan told her softly. "Right now I am scared for your health; Bone's is right; this is not good for you. We know your location, and we are coming to you now. I will see you very soon."
Nyota smiled as she forced herself to her feet, and closed off her computer. The bed on the other side of the room was suddenly miles away.
xxxx
"Speed is paramount." Khan addressed the bridge crew who were now on route to Earth, the Entrada was running at her maximum warp, and a coordinated location in the Earth's exosphere, directly above the Starfleet apartment Nyota was in was the ships current destination.
"Once we are in position above Earth, a security fleet will no doubt be upon us in seconds. The transporter room must be ready with the apartments coordinates to beam me down, and then then Entrada must disappear." He addressed the helmsmen, "Have a course laid in for Orcus and head back there once I'm gone. I doubt anyone will follow you, but you'll be safer away from Earth. I will contact you to let you know when we're coming back to the Entrada."
"I'm going with you." Kirk said. Khan nodded and Jim clapped him on the shoulder.
"I too wish to accompany you," Spock said, "If you will let me. I assure you, I am on your side."
Khan eyed him a moment. "Alright. For Nyota's sake."
"Arriving at Earth in two minutes, Captain." A lieutenant told him.
"Right, lets go. McCoy; come with us."
Khan spoke with Bones as they strode to the transporter room. "I need you to be ready with the Medbay for when we return, Nyota and our child will need checking over."
"Of course." McCoy replied as the men took their places on the pad.
"Arriving at Earth in three, two, one… prepare for transport." A lieutenant spoke from the bridge.
"Good luck." Bones offered as energy encircled them and they disappeared from the ship.
They energised right in the middle of the apartment. It was dark yet the light from the moon and surrounding buildings provided just enough light to see in. Nyota had made it to her bed and was curled up on top of the covers, one arm wrapped around her stomach to protect their daughter.
Khan crossed the room to her immediately. He sat down on the edge of the mattress and gently stroked her cheek to rouse her.
"Darling." He whispered. Her eyes flickered open and relief spread through her still drugged expression.
"Khan…" She struggled to sit up, but his arms quickly found her and pulled her into an embrace.
"My love, are you alright? I am so sorry this happened." He breathed, holding her tightly. Nyota moved slightly, gazing at him with hooded eyes.
"It's worse." She wanted to tell him, "The Admiral… horrible plan…"
"I estimate that we have less than five minutes before the Admiral knows we are here." Spock interjected, "The transporter signal will have been detected."
Nyota nodded, "You have to stop him…" She whispered, face crumpling, "It's bad…"
Khan stroked her hair, gazing at her limp frame and woozily worried expression. The Admiral would pay for drugging her, let alone everything else he has done.
"No worrying." He told her, kissing away the lines on her forehead. "I will find out everything. You are safe now, I promise. We'll be going home as soon as I have dealt with the Admiral."
Nyota touched his cheek and managed a smile. Khan carefully released her from his embrace and let her fall back to sleep. The rooms computer alerted them and the Admiral appeared on screen. Khan approached the comm.
"How the hell did you get down here..?" His tone was threatening.
"Nyota contacted me from this very computer. It was unwise of you to leave her in an obvious place with access to a computer that has my encryptions on; of course she was going to contact me."
"She was out cold; there's more drugs in her than an eight month pregnant woman should have."
Khan smirked. "You are going to pay for that… Yet you underestimated her strength." He said, "Tell me where you are."
"Why?"
"I think we need to have a discussion, don't you agree?"
The Admiral said nothing. He glared at Khan as he sat back in his chair, he was obviously in an office somewhere, but on the Intelligence Base or at Starfleet HQ? Khan sighed heavily.
"You can either tell me where you are right now, or I will hack the systems and find you." Khan told him, "There is no point in trying to outsmart me, it will not work. I am coming after you, be that now, or after I have wreaked havoc through Starfleet trying to find you. It's your choice; the end result will be the same."
The Admiral eyed him for a long moment. "Intelligence Base one, fourth floor, office six." The transmission terminated. Khan turned to Spock and Kirk.
"Take Spock with you." Kirk said, "He's a more logical arguer and he'll be tougher when shit starts to fly. I'll stay here and look after Nyota."
"Thank you." Khan acknowledged, crossing the room to Nyota again. He crouched down beside the bed, she was fast asleep now.
"I love you." He whispered to her. "So very much." He kissed her and brushed her hair off her face, before getting to his feet and striding to the door. Spock followed after him.
"Kick his ass." Kirk told them. Khan flashed him a wicked grin as the door closed behind them.
xxxx
Khan and Spock entered the Admiral's office calmly. Although Khan was reeling, he sat and listened as the Admiral informed them of the conversation that he had with Nyota on the way back to Earth.
"I gave her the choice to a be able to look after her child," The Admiral was explaining, "So long as you both agreed to let Starfleet access her for study, but Nyota declined. So by default, she chose the other option."
"Which is..?" Khan growled, drumming his fingers against the arms of the chair impatiently.
"She will give birth to the child on Earth, you will both be declared unfit to be parents, and the girl will be taken from you and raised and studied by Starfleet." He told him without feeling. "From the data I have received already, I can see she is going to be quite a unique little specimen."
Khan no longer tried to control his rage. He flew out of his chair and grabbed the Admiral, pulled him over the desk and punched him repeatedly, before grabbing his throat and shoving him to the wall.
"You should have let me sleep! You should have let us both sleep!" Khan roared. He forced himself to take a breath. "There is no way in hell that you are getting my child. I will kill you, and every person you have ever spoken too, looked at, or so much as passed on the street, before I ever let you within one hundred light years of my daughter."
The Admiral spluttered under Khan's grasp, his gaze desperately drifting across to Spock, who sat doing nothing to intervene.
"I am not going to assist you, Sir." Spock said. "Your actions against Nyota and her child are morally wrong. Herself and Khan have done nothing to prove that they are unfit to raise a child, and nothing in the past months that can even be construed as criminal behaviour. It is you who is trying to keep them as the enemy." Spock stated. "The fact that you are being subjected to this violence now is of your own doing; for I should think that if you threatened to take any other man's child, he would react in the same way. I am certain that I would."
The Admiral looked back to Khan in fear, yet he managed a smirk. "Go on; kill me." He taunted him. Khan twitched; he could so easily break this man's neck and he so wanted to, but instead, he released him, watching his body slump to the floor.
"No. Killing you would be a kindness." Khan hissed, and kicked him in the ribs. "No matter how much I might want to for the hurt you have cause Nyota, for ending the lives of my crew… It would land me in more trouble than it's worth, and I have a child on the way; so instead I plan to ruin you."
The Admiral was still catching his breath as he looked up at Khan from the floor.
"I have witnesses, ships recordings, even inside knowledge from General Wells." Khan told him. "The entire Federation will see what you have done, and will know about your plans. The public will drag you out for me, and I will no longer be seen as the enemy."
The Admiral's eyes widened as the situation dawned on him. Khan turned his back on him and crossed the room to Spock. The man shakily got to his feet, approaching them.
"You're not actually going to do this. You're not going to help him, are you Spock?" He asked the Vulcan.
"Yes. I am." Spock replied. The Admiral looked at him with disgust, and Spock threw a punch at him. "That was for everything you have subject Nyota to."
Khan smirked, briefly watching the man struggle on the floor with his bloody nose. "Goodbye Admiral." He said, and they departed his office for good.
xxxx
Khan and Spock had been away for some time, and Nyota had woken up. She was miserable and worried, so Kirk took it upon himself to cheer her up while they waited for the others to return.
Nyota sat in bed with a bowl of food Kirk had made for her, and was laughing at him as he stood in the middle of the room wiggling around with his hands on his forehead like antenna.
"That is not what an Andorian Water Slug looks like!" She cackled, "They don't wiggle! It's more of a weave."
"Weave!? There's no weaving! There is a distinct wiggle, and their antenna flop about like this."
Kirk was wiggling his torso and flapping his hands about on his head, more laughter erupted from Nyota. The whole thing was made even funnier when Khan and Spock returned, as Kirk was so into his impression, he did not notice them.
"What are you doing, Kirk?" Khan asked him, standing at the door with Spock, both looking utterly bemused. Nyota howled as Kirk turned to them.
"Andorian Water Slug!" He exclaimed, continuing his impression. They watched him a moment.
"Their movement is more of a weave, Jim." Spock told him.
"See! I told you!" Nyota was almost crying with laughter. Kirk stopped and huffed dramatically. Khan rolled his eyes and smiled, crossing to sit with Nyota on the bed. Wiggle, weave; it did not matter. Nyota was smiling again, and the sound of her laughter always warmed Khan's heart.
"How did it go?" She asked, putting her empty food bowl aside, concern edging into her voice. She found Khan's hands.
"Well you're both back so..?"
"I think…" Khan began cautiously, "I think for the first time since our being together; we are safe."
"Safe?"
"The Admiral knows what he is doing is wrong, and we have every means to destroy him and his career. He knows he cannot do anything, because we have too much support, and evidence against him."
"As I told him; his actions against you are morally wrong. When he is exposed, the people of Starfleet will deal with him." Spock added.
Nyota couldn't believe her ears, they had beaten the Admiral at his own game. She beamed and hugged Khan.
"We're safe? Our daughter is safe?"
Khan smiled, "Yes."
Nyota kissed him and laughed again. She was more relieved than she had ever been about anything in her entire life.
"Did you kick his ass though?" She asked, looking between him and Spock.
"Of course we did." Khan smiled. "Now, we may be safe," He began, "But I personally do not want to hang around and test our luck."
"I'll contact the Entrada." Kirk said, walking over to the comm.
"Tell them to stay at Orcus, give us their exact coordinates and have their transporter room ready." Khan told him. They all looked at him confused. "Waiting for the Entrada to get back to Earth's exosphere will take too long, and the Admiral may still have security waiting to attack the ship."He got to his feet and began looking around the room. "When I travelled to London to get Nyota from the Vaults, I used a transporter beacon I stole from the Intelligence Base. It uses Mr. Scott's transwarp beaming equation to move personnel around undetected. Much better than the device I used when escaping to Kronos all those years ago."
He looked in a draw and found the device. "We can plan our next steps from the safety of the ship."
"Their coordinates are, 55. 72. 19. 38." Kirk announced.
Khan programmed the device and gestured for them to gather round. He scanned each of them, let the transporter log their mass, and beam them all back to the Entrada.